CORN 



137 



The ears have from eight to twelve rows of shallow kernels 

 (Fig. 59). The ears are smaller and more slender than those 

 of the dent corns. Flint corn is grown extensively in New 

 England and in other Northern states, because it matures earlier 

 than most of the dent varieties and is reasonably productive of 

 both grain and fodder. 



167. Sweet corn. Sweet corn when mature is quite shrunken 

 and wrinkled and is translucent in appearance. As the name 

 suggests, this corn is sweeter than the other types. It is grown 

 mostly for human consumption, to be eaten green, canned, or 

 dried. The grain is 



filled in part with a 

 watery sugar solution 

 and not principally with 

 starch, as is the case 

 with other types. When 

 the water evaporates in 

 the process of ripen- 

 ing, the grain shrinks 

 and becomes wrinkled. 



168. Pop corn. Pop- 

 corn kernels resemble 

 the flint type, having a 



covering of flinty material over the crown and sides and the 

 starchy material at the center. It is grown exclusively for 

 popping. 



169. Soft corn. The large, rounded kernels of the soft corn 

 varieties are characterized by white, mealy starch throughout the 

 endosperm, the horny starch being entirely lacking. This is 

 grown only in latitudes farther south than the United States, 

 as in some of the countries of Central and South America. 



170. Pod corn. This corn is grown only as a curiosity. Each 

 kernel is inclosed in tiny husks and the kernels vary greatly, 

 some being dented, others showing the flint characters, and 

 others the soft-corn or sweet-corn characters. It is supposed that 

 all of the modern types of corn came originally from pod corn. 



FIG. 59. Flint corn (Early Yellow Canada) 



First prize, New England Corn Exposition, 1910. 



(Photograph from New Hampshire Agricultural 



College) 



